DEP Issues Statement On Bradford County Methane Migration Investigation

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

May 24, 2012 | 4:06 PM

The Department of Environmental Protection has sent StateImpact Pennsylvania a statement about its methane migration investigation in Leroy Township, Bradford County:

The Department of Environmental Protection and Chesapeake Energy are continuing to investigate the source or sources of methane gas that has been detected in the headspace of three private wells in Leroy Township, Bradford County. All three wells have been vented and the homes have had methane monitoring alarms installed by Chesapeake. A mobile water treatment unit has been installed at one residence, a temporary water supply tank has been provided at another residence and bottled water is being provided to two additional residences.
Chesapeake’s Morse well pad contains two wells and is about one-half mile from the impacted private wells.
On May 22, DEP Oil and Gas Program staff collected isotopic gas samples at both of these wells. Gas bubbling continues in a wetland and two small tributaries to Towanda Creek.
On May 23, DEP staff monitored the methane-impacted wells and checked the homes for the presence of methane gas. Chesapeake’s consultant continues to assess other private wells in close proximity to the Morse well pad and the methane-impacted private wells. The investigation is on-going.

Leroy Township, is, of course, the site of Chesapeake’s high-profile April 2011 blowout. The company was fined $250,000 for the incident.